Retractable Gates for Metro Stations and Transit Hubs

Picture a metro station during rush hour: thousands of people, luggage, pushchairs, cyclists. Infrastructure here has to be genuinely tough. A conventional fence in a place like this is either a permanent barrier that gets in everyone's way around the clock, or something that has to be set up and taken down every day. Neither makes sense. At night, that same space needs to be completely secured – it is still a site that requires protection. Underground automatic gates by FANCY FENCE solve this problem directly: during the day they disappear below ground and bother nobody; at night they can be raised to provide full protection. No compromises, no makeshift solutions.

One confirmed installation is in Annemasse in France. Further projects in transport infrastructure are currently underway, so below we describe the scenarios that come up most often in our conversations with urban planners and investors.

Waterproofing Strategies for Underground Installations 

No mechanism has an easy life at a metro station. Rain, snowmelt, salt spread on pavements in winter – all of it ends up underground. Add to that the cleaning chemicals used on platforms, heavy traffic and fluctuating temperatures. Entrance gates in locations like these have to be designed to withstand all of this for years, not just a few seasons. A manufacturer who designs a system on the assumption that it will somehow cope is leaving the investor exposed to future problems.

At FANCY FENCE, the entire drive mechanism is enclosed in a sealed, prefabricated concrete chamber and has no direct contact with water or contaminants. In particularly exposed locations, additional panel seals and corrosion-resistant steel covers provide another layer of protection. Where the terrain slopes, the system is designed from the outset with linear drainage on the higher side, so water always flows away from the mechanism rather than pooling around it. These are not special requests – they are standard design practice for installations in demanding locations.

Managing High-Frequency Operation Cycles

A transit hub operates very differently from an office building or a shopping centre. Schedules change, unexpected situations arise, stations sometimes need to be closed at short notice. In this kind of environment, a barrier is not a decorative feature – it is a piece of infrastructure that has to work reliably at any time of day, in any conditions.

Automatic retractable gates by FANCY FENCE are built for exactly this. The cable-and-counterweight mechanism balances the weight of the panel, which means it runs smoothly and consistently without requiring powerful drives. This translates directly into lower operating costs and simpler servicing. Each section can be controlled independently, so in practice you open only what needs to be open at any given moment – not the entire fence at once. This allows for flexible, precise access control throughout the day.

Accessibility Compliance in Transit Environments (ADA)

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility requirements are a set of legal regulations intended to ensure equal access for people with disabilities to public places, services, employment, and transportation. Therefore, they largely apply to architecture, as narrow passageways or protruding elements can effectively prevent or hinder passage for people who are blind, visually impaired, or have limited mobility.

Public space has to work for everyone – for a wheelchair user, a parent with a pushchair, an elderly person with a walking stick and a passenger dragging a large suitcase. This is not a matter of goodwill or extra budget – it is the foundation of transport infrastructure design. And it starts at ground level.

When the FANCY FENCE panels are lowered, the average user may not even notice they are there. No rails, no thresholds, no protruding elements or mechanisms. A flat, clean surface that anyone can walk across without a second thought. This is a significant advantage over systems that leave guide rails or other components exposed at surface level even when open. Underground gates for properties such as metro stations, railway terminals and interchange hubs are always designed individually: passage widths, section layout, integration with lifts and other accessibility features – all tailored to the specific location and the needs of its users.

Emergency Egress Requirements and Solutions

With heavy pedestrian traffic, emergency evacuation is not a worst-case scenario tucked away in technical documentation – it is something that has to be designed in from day one and has to work flawlessly under pressure. An access control system that obstructs evacuation or requires special procedures in a crisis is simply badly designed.

FANCY FENCE has two concrete answers here. The anti-panic function lowers selected sections within seconds, opening a wide passage exactly where it is needed – no waiting, no delays that could prove critical. Manual operation works completely without power, so even a total power failure does not disable the system. Individual evacuation sections can be activated independently from the rest of the fence, giving full control over what opens and when. Access control and fire safety requirements do not have to be at odds – with the right design, they complement each other from the start.

Want to see how it looks in practice? Visit our website and explore the installation in Annemasse in France.